Thursday, 22 December 2016

They discover in the solar system an object that challenges our astronomical knowledge

Yesterday I talked about the mysterious 'mega - structure' of the star KIC 84628520, but not all seemingly inexplicable mysteries of the galaxy are thousands of light years. In fact, this month has been discovered an object in our solar system that is drawing a strange orbit that scientists had never seen before.

It is a small trans - Neptunian object (whose orbit is located partially or totally beyond Neptune) that defies our knowledge orbiting in the opposite direction to other planets. This is abnormal behavior for that time astronomers have no explanation.

The object has been nicknamed "Niku", which is the Chinese adjective to rebel , and it is estimated that its diameter could be less than 200 kilometers. In addition to the sense of its orbit, it also stands out because it does so in a plane that is tilted 110 degrees to the plane of the solar system.

Niku's Exciting Mystery

Planetary systems are defined by a plane that is formed around a star, and where thanks to the angular momentum all bodies rotate in the same direction. These are two of the aspects that challenges Niku, as orbits in an inclined plane 110 degrees relative to the rest of the solar system, and does so in the opposite direction.

The fact that moves in this way suggests that the current object must have been changed by something unknown. As astrophysicist Matthew J. Holman of Astrophysical Observatory Smithsonian, mientro team that found it out, he told the New Scientist, this suggests that "there are more movements in the outer solar system that we are fully aware."

Initially, the team Holman thought his orbit could have been influenced by the ninth planet in the solar system on a group of astronomers took the first signs in January. But after studying the theory they came to the conclusion that it was too close to be influenced by it.

The scientific community has received with excitement this new mystery, as may be the prelude to a new discovery about how the universe works. Even so, Niku's own discoverers ask for caution in their investigation, since they assert that at the moment they only have indications, and until they do not develop them, they can not begin to analyze and theorize about the phenomenon.